


Matchmaker

by onthehill



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, TFLN Challenge, Texts From Last Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 01:59:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3673293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onthehill/pseuds/onthehill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your prompt is: (646): you weren't there so I had to flirt with him on your behalf.</p><p>"You brought him home? You were just supposed to entertain him till I got there." Harry's voice sounded muffled and sad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

> What am I supposed to write here? Hmmm. I write s l o w l y. I started this before all the Zayn drama /o\ when Zouis was one of my happy places :(
> 
> A billion thanks to gorgeousnerd who made this so much better than it was <3.

"You brought him home? You were just supposed to entertain him till I got there." Harry's voice sounded muffled and sad.

“You weren't _there_! Where are you, anyway?" Louis decided he didn't care and pressed on with "Look. I don’t know why you’re so pissed off, Harry! What was I supposed to do? You TOLD me to keep him busy!” Louis was whisper-hissing because he was hiding in the bathroom from the beautiful new guy in his bed.

Harry's disappointed silence spoke volumes. Louis' hangover headache got worse instantly. And okay, Louis was totally lying when he said he didn't know why Harry was angry, but honestly. Louis was NOT a saint, and only a saint would have been able to resist the guy's - _Zayn's_ advances. And anyway, when they'd first seen him at the bar last week, Harry hadn't had the balls to go up to him. Oh no. He'd preferred to bundle Louis into a corner and whisper in his ear about how "Godlike, Louis!" the guy sitting on his own reading had been.

So it was Harry's own fault, really.

******************

It had happened like this:

1\. The last two Thursdays at Zooville, their favourite bar, Harry and Louis had noticed a gorgeous guy who didn't seem to talk to anyone except Liam, the barman. Instead, the guy only wanted to sit in a dark corner, and read and scribble in a little Moleskine notebook he kept on his lap. And leave before either of them had enough alcohol in them to drown their inhibitions.

2\. Last week, on the way back to their flat, Harry had decided he was going to "Put the moves on him, Lou. No-one can resist a full Styles charm offensive". And then he had flashed that amazing smile and batted his eyelashes at Louis until he got a punch in the arm. He deserved a punch in the arm, really. Like, okay, Harry was a model, but that didn't mean he was totally irresistible.

3\. Of course Harry had been late. And Louis had been _bored_. And then Harry had called to say the photoshoot had run over but he could probably make it in an hour or so, and _please PLEASE_ could Louis make sure the guy didn't leave.

4\. Liam wasn't even on tonight, so Louis had nobody else to annoy and was stuck sitting at the bar by himself _because of Harry_ , and what else could he do but buy a couple of expensive whiskeys and plop himself down at the table opposite gorgeous guy.

The guy had looked up, eyes wide and startled, and oh, his dark eyes literally sparkled, and was he wearing mascara? Who had lashes that long and thick? His black hair hung down over one side of his face, but the other perfect cheekbone was lit up. "Um." he said. He swiftly closed the notebook down on his lap, but he left the library book open on the table. It looked like some dull textbook at first glance.

"I got you a drink," Louis said, indicating the glasses.

"Um," he said again. Maybe he was a little slow, Louis wondered.

"You drink Jamesons, right? I've seen you." Louis wished for that back as soon as it popped out of his mouth, because he didn't want to come across as some kind of stalker. But it seemed his mouth was on a roll and out of his control in the face of _that_ face because it went on, "We saw you here last week."

The guy kind of looked past him and around the place, confused. "Me and my friend Harry. He's not here. Hi. I'm Louis." Louis offered his hand, and the guy took it, limply.

"...OK?" he drawled. Louis nudged the whiskey toward him, and he gave it a suspicious glance. Louis could see he was going to have to do most of the work here.

“So why do you come to this place just to read? You could do that at home. Or, like. In the library or something. Are you a student?” Two questions was enough, he thought, to get this rolling.

"Yeah. 'm a student. I uh, just need to like, get out the house sometimes, you know?" Louis smiles. The guy talks slowly and runs his words into each other, but his accent is Yorkshire through and through.

"I know what you mean. Cabin fever, right? I was right where you are last year," Louis offers. He picks up one of the glasses and hands it over. "Here you go, then! Got to support our Uni students!" It earns him a slow, crinkly-eyed smile which makes his brain go a little liquid. "Um, what are you studying?"

“Art history and English. Thought I might like to be a teacher." the guy says as he takes a delicate sip of the whiskey.

“Oh, really? I teach little ones - like pre-school, nursery. They’re great at that age.” And he was off. Louis really did love his job, even if it was exhausting and paid very little.

They settled in to chat about their lives, and Louis really enjoyed the guy's company. He had a sarcastic, slightly off-centre humour that reminded him of Harry, and he was even more gorgeous close up than from across the room. So he bought two more rounds and then the guy bought one and then they decided to move on to the offie because they couldn't afford more at these prices. That was when Harry had texted to say he wouldn't be home, and somewhere around then was when Louis' memories of the night had turned vague and fuzzy.

But he did remember tumbling into bed, discovering a plethora of tattoos, and a lot of giggling, and the kind of easy, fun sex he wishes he got to have more often.

*****************

"Well, did you even ask him if he wanted to try a threesome after you stole him from me?" Harry sounded overly offended, and a little amused? 

“Harry, shut up, I've gotta go. He's still..."

A polite knock sounded on the bathroom door. "Louis?" 

Louis hit "CLOSE" and shoved the phone into the bundle of towels under the sink. He splashed his face and took a gulp of water straight from the tap before answering.

"Hey... um...Out in a sec!" He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up even more, and then tried to flatten it down again, but it was hopeless, so he strode over and swung the door open, making Zayn almost tumble against him.

"Morning!" he said with a perkiness that was 100% faked. "Tea all round then, is it?"

“Oh. Yeah, mate, that’d be…”

"Great!" Louis trilled and slipped past into the kitchen/diner. He didn't fail to notice that Zayn was wearing nothing but black boxer briefs and an overly large t-shirt slipping off his shoulder that had probably once belonged to Harry. Louis must have lent him that. Ugh, why did he drink so much?

Louis put the kettle on. He was searching for the good Yorkshire tea that Harry always hid behind his trendy herbal fruity shit, when suddenly he heard laughter from the bathroom. Oh shit - He'd left the phone in there. What the fuck? He crept over to the bathroom door.

"...Harry!" Then a giggle. "No man, no idea!" Louis frowned.

There was silence for a while and then, "Yeah. Thanks mate." The sound of rummaging and running water followed. Zayn had been talking to Harry on Louis' own phone and Louis was pretty confused. But a suspicion was starting to form.

Harry's bedroom door was closed, and he’d said he wouldn’t be home. But Louis thought he heard a noise and that suspicion grew. He threw the door open to discover Harry sitting up in bed scrolling through his phone. Harry jumped in surprise, his eyes the size of saucers, and grabbed at his duvet like a little kid.

"What the fuck?" Louis squeaked.

"Um. Lou. Don't be angry..." Louis didn't know what Harry's placating voice was doing to his face, but it probably wasn't pretty.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Louis yelled.

"Lou, calm down. I was just helping, I knew you fancied him, and then he was modeling on the shoot with me on Monday, and we talked and I knew you'd like him, and he remembered you and he fancied you too, so I told him to be at Zooville, but YOU were supposed to talk to him there, and he was too shy to go up to you, so that was never gonna work, so I had to arrange for you to approach him, and he texted me and said you weren't interested and then I called you saying I’d be late and..."

"Okay, okay!" Louis flapped a hand to interrupt. "So what you’re telling me is you're an interfering little shit? This is so embarrassing. I'm not fifteen - i don't need your help pulling."

"Well," Harry paused dramatically, looking pleased with himself, "it kinda worked?"

At that moment, Zayn suddenly appeared in Harry's doorway. He was slowly allowing that smile to spread across his face again "I'd say it definitely worked." He reached across to tug Louis back to him and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek, "Don't you agree?"

Louis gaped between both their smug, self-satisfied faces in disbelief. "Oh. My. God." He was alternating between wanting to sink through the floor, smack them both or congratulate them on their deviousness. He hated backing down, but on the other hand it looked like he had a new boyfriend to show for it. He narrowed his eyes at Harry "Just. Don't do this again, okay!"

He dragged Zayn back out into the hallway and slammed Harry's door on the "You're welcome!" that came singing out.

"So. Zayn. You wanna..." he nodded back to his own room, eyebrow raised.

"... alright then."

~end~


End file.
